LA GRANDE, Ore. – Lady Argo softball's first conference game of the 2017 season was a 4-3 win over Carroll College on March 3. UGF has played eight more conference contests since then, but still has yet to duplicate the result, after a pair of losses to Eastern Oregon; 11-5 and 8-7 in extra innings.
Eastern Oregon showcased its power early in Game 1, hitting a home run in each of the first two innings to take a 3-0 lead.
That deficit was eliminated and more in the top of the third. Junior Mikaylee Jaussi singled to right to lead off the inning and a double from freshman
Hanna Tarum, getting the second start of her young career, brought Jaussi to third and Tarum to second with no outs in the inning.
In similar situations against EOU the previous day, UGF struggled to take advantage and when senior
Jocelyn Kaufman hit into a fielder's choice that threw out Jaussi at home, it looked like that might happen again.
Senior
Morgan Robinson eliminated some of those fears with a hard line drive down the left side of the infield that brought Tarum home. Her hit started a run of four straight singles for UGF. Junior
Bailey Henderson got the next one, followed by junior
Kylie Gonzales, and senior
Paige Bodner. Each hit brought home a runner and the Lady Argos ended the inning up 4-3.
Another Mountaineer home run even the score, but another single from Henderson in the top of the fifth drove in Robinson to once again give UGF a 1-run lead.
The Lady Argos didn't get much time to enjoy the lead. The bottom of the fifth was ugly and featured a 2 RBI double, a 2 RBI home run, and 7 total runs scored for EOU.
Henderson and Robinson each went 2-4 from the play and combined for 3 runs and 3 RBI. The 11 runs were the most UGF has surrendered this season.
UGF showcased its own power hitting in the first inning of Game 2. Robinson and Henderson each got their third hit of the day to start the game but were almost left stranded with the next to Lady Argos failing to reach base safely. Senior
Jackie Thomas drew first blood with a single down the left side that brought Robinson fully around the base paths.
With 2 outs in the inning and runners on first and third, senior
Hali Gruntowicz belted her second home run of the season to score 3 runs. The senior was UGF's leading hitter in 2016, but has been cold to start the season, entering the day with a 0.200 batting average.
While Gruntowicz was starting to feel the rhythm, EOU was already mid-song and rallied off 6 runs in the bottom of the first to undo the damage of UGF's early success.
Henderson was back at it in the top of the third, leading off the inning with a single to short, for her fourth hit of the day. She reached home three at-bats later, but would have been stuck at third if not for an EOU throwing error. Jaussi and Tarum then each hit singles to drive in 2 more runs. Jaussi tried to make Tarum's hit a 2 RBI effort but was thrown out at home to end the inning.
UGF's 7-6 looked like it might hold entering the bottom of the seventh, but the team's growing bane that is the late innings continued, as a sacrifice fly to left field led to a UGF throwing error and the game-tying run for EOU.
Junior
Kristina George, entered the pitching circle in the fourth inning and pitched a great game for the next five. The only run scored on her watch heading into extra innings was the one unearned score in the seventh.
She kept UGF alive in the bottom of the eighth, holding EOU scoreless but another error, this time her own, caused another unearned run for the Mountaineers which ended the game in the bottom of the ninth.
The star of the day for UGF was Henderson, who went 5-9 at the plate with 3 runs, 2 RBI, and 1 double.
In Game 2, Gruntowicz had just her second multi-hit game of the year, going 2-4 with a home run and scoring twice.
UGF has now lost eight straight games and fall below .500 for the first time this season at 8-10 (1-8). The team will hope for better results as they return home for two doubleheaders against Northwest University on March 24 & 25.
